Looking at the pics of the Lavilla area brought back many memories. Me and my Mom lived in Lavilla (817 West Duval Street) and I played around the area a half block from Davis and Duval (a coin laundry was on the northwest corner) where the old Flagler Hotel once stood, and rooming/boarding housees on the northeast and southeast corner, and an Army/Navy store was on the southwest corner. I watched movies as a kid at the Ritz Theater (now an upscale theater), and also at the Strand down on Ashley Street close to Jefferson (the popcorn was always too salty).
This area of town (Lavilla) yes was the Harlem of Jax back in those days (early to mid 60's when we lived in Jax when I was a kid). It was alive with African American businesses such as restaurants, laundries, confectionaries (stores), meat markets and small super markets, and clothing stores. People were always everywhere especially at night and what I remember most is the music blaring from the bars and clubs on Ashley Street.
I also remember the many times my Mother took me downtown which was always alive with people. I used to love looking up at the skyscrapers because I was raised in a small town before my Mom took me to Jax to live with her. From Lavilla you could always see the skyscrapers (Barnett Bank, Hotel George Washington, the old Independent Life, etc., and though these buildings are now classified as mid risers, they seemed super tall back then). One of the posters in this thread, I think Oklawaha, left out two important department stores that my Mom and I shopped at, J.C. Pennys and Woolworths, right across from Hemming Park. Hemming Park had a public restroom that was downstairs (it was awfully smelly and nasty but at least we had a public park), and there was also a Grandstand on the northwest corner. Also, the City buses met and lined up at Hemming Park (Plaza) (right across from where the new library is now), and Hemming was the Central hub or hook-up for the City bus system.
All business was conducted downtown, paying bills, banking, shopping, movies, almost everything.
The picture showing Mainstreet in its last heyday with shops, restaurants, and filled with Pedestrians was taken on the corner of Main and Duval where in the early 70's when downtown was really on the decline, there was an Italian Restaurant on the southeast corner (can't remember the name (Bafano's?)), and on the northwest corner was a hat shop, and I frequented a bar called the Flamingo Lounge which was right next to the hat shop; this was from about 1974 to around 1979; the Italian restaurant would be razed in the late 70's I think, and the hat shop along with the Flamingo Lounge would be razed sometime in the late 80's and would remain a vacant lot for many years until the new library would be built with an adjacent parking garage.
Someone in the forum said that we are negative in exposing all of this; not so. Jax has always wanted to be bigger and better than she could ever be (a proud city), and we were on the way but somehow lost our way. Jax was the Jewel in Florida's Crown for many many years, first in population, first in stature, first in everything, and the State Government catered to Jax first for many years; now we are far down on the list even in back of cities that we know are smaller than Jax. Consolidation I guess was a good thing, but to me we were clamoring to regain that "first" status that we lost. Had we not consolidated, I think Jax would be in even much worse shape than she already is in. We would have a very small population for a big metro (probably under 100,000), and no telling how this would have effected the overall mentality and heart of the City; so we can, as I stated before, look at consolidation as maybe a good thing.
At any rate, this craziness has to stop. Jax has to be more proud of who she is, plan and prepare better for her citizens and the city as a whole, and restore downtown to a new glory and forget the former glory because that can never be recaptured; but we can forge ahead and reshape Jax into the number one important city that she should be and is, ensuring that the people's best interests are first and the beautiful new buildings and other attractions are built to support the people who call Jax home.
Heights Unknown
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